Karachi: Fertilizer Manufacturers of Pakistan Advisory Council (FMPAC) on Monday threatened the government that they will stop production of the commodity until it doesn’t publish a fertilizer subsidy notification.
Subsidy on fertilizer had been decreased from Rs156 to Rs100 a bag by the government, and FMPAC said it hadn’t ceased production of the commodity but only passed on the increase to farmers and not halted its sale.
Ministry of Food Security and Research had earlier on promised the manufacturers that it would publish a notification in regard to the fertilizer subsidy, but seems to have reneged from it. FMPAC said that they would be forced to cease urea production, due to the authority’s indifferent attitude and may also force them to withdraw from participating in this critical subsidy-programme.
FMPAC highlighted that the issue had spiraled out of control due to the complex procedure that had been instituted for payment of fertilizer subsidy. According to the council, the backlog of overdue and unpaid fertilizer subsidy payments now stood at Rs20b.
To end the crisis, FMPAC requested the authorities to solve the issue by taking into account the GST returns submitted by the entities.
